While fables and short stories both have plots and characters, fables like “An Appointment in Samarra” by English novelist W. Dragan Essay #1, Revised Literature – Fable and Short Story Comparison A story is a story, but not all stories are told the same. Terry Pratchett, The Colour of Magic, (London: Transworld, 1983), pp.Aida Soto Eng 102 Prof. Somerset Maugham, “An Appointment in Samarra” from Sheppey (1933) Death watched him go, and shrugged bitterly.” Rincewind backed away, hands spread protectively in front of him… YOU DON’T HAVE TO TELL ME, THE WHOLE SYSTEM’S GOT SCREWED UP AGAIN, I CAN SEE THAT. But until then I’m with Rincewind from Terry Pratchett’s The Colour of Magic, who, upon being told by Death that he’s expected soon in Psephopololis, simply declines to be there: There’s a sense in which we all get to Samarra eventually, of course. To deny this cheapens the very important choice made at the climax of the episode, and the character who made it, riding to Samarra with eyes wide open. I’m on the side of young Sherlock – Samarra was a choice, not an inevitability.
(Vague hints that might constitute a spoiler follow) M: Then he becomes a pirate, for some reason. The merchant goes to a different city and is perfectly fine. M: You wrote your own version, as I remember. M: You always hated that story as a child. We learn from Mycroft that Sherlock doesn’t put much stock in the fatalistic conclusion: Throughout The Six Thatchers we return to the story of the servant in Samarra. (There's more to say here, but we’ll investigate other common features of self-fulfilling prophecies in a future instalment.) It’s not that Tai Lung’s escape was inevitable, although we might feel fatalistic were we in Shifu’s shoes (well, closed-toe sandals). To prevent the vision coming true, Shifu sends a bird to the prison to increase security, thereby providing Tai Lung with the means of escape: a feather for a lock pick. In Kung Fu Panda, Master Oogway has a vision in which the villainous Tai Lung escapes from his prison. This isn’t unusual in fiction: characters giving weight to a prophecy is often what makes it come true. We might think that if he had not been so certain – or if his Master had refused to lend the horse, or he’d been slower on the road – his fate may have been different. He sees Death, believes he’s in trouble, and acts on that belief – his death is the result. I’ve always been looking over my shoulder, always expecting to see the grim figure of… Death.”īut it’s not that the servant is doomed to be taken that evening no matter what he does he is doomed because of what he does.
“I’m just like the merchant in the story, I thought I could out-run the inevitable. The villain of the episode references it too: Inevitable, predestined – two words that the Holmes brothers use in their discussion of the tale. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.” Ĭommonly this tale is cited as an exemplar of fatalism: no matter what the servant does, it seems, death will find him. The merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd, and he came to me and said, “Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?” “That was not a threatening gesture”, I said, “it was only a start of surprise. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks, and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. Somerset Maugham’s own retelling of an old Arab fable. Near the beginning of The Six Thatchers, Sherlock tells a story. But there is one part of the episode that hasn’t received attention, and it’s about time it did (never fear, I’ll avoid spoilers – at least until the end).
#Somerset maugham short stories appointment in samarra license
There has been a lot of talk about The Six Thatchers – opening episode of Sherlock season four: disappointment, glee, parallels drawn to a certain besuited agent with a license to kill.
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